


Before Dawn

by BloodEnvy



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Shared Bunk, and they were roommates..., baby groot cuteness, groot is a cheeky little bastard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 17:09:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15890391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BloodEnvy/pseuds/BloodEnvy
Summary: You’re tired, trying to sleep and sharing an overly-cramped bunk with Rocket and Groot. All you want to do is close your eyes an drift off to dreamland, but sweet little Groot, who has come to think of you both as his parents despite your platonic relationship, has other plans for you and his other favourite guardian.





	Before Dawn

You groaned and rolled onto your back, your eyes still stubbornly closed. It had been a long day, and you’d barely managed to grunt out a few words to the rest of the crew before trudging off to your bunk. ‘Bunk’ may have been too generous a term. The Milano only had too official bunks; Peter had his own private room, and the other was shared by Gamora, Mantis and Drax. The ‘bunk’ shared by you, Rocket and Groot was one of the larger storage rooms off the cargo area, windowless and a little cramped. Maybe that would be an issue once Groot grew some, but for now it worked fine.

You used to have Mantis’ bed, but once she’d joined the crew you’d been forced to give it up. Rocket had flat out refused to share a room with a stranger, even one as benign and gentle as Mantis, but had begrudgingly agreed to sharing it with you when you’d reluctantly suggested it. Quill and Drax had constructed a cot for you against one wall and hung Rocket’s hammock high against the opposite wall above the table that held Groot’s little pot. What few belongings and clothes you had were stored under your bed or in a locker in the corner.

Groot had been excited to have you in the bunk, eager to have you read to him every night and to play with of a morning. Rocket on the other hand, well, he’d been typical Rocket. The two of you got along well enough, sure, but he was still distrustful by nature. Still, you were pretty sure he liked you, maybe more than the others. He usually chose to sit by you at dinner and often stuck close by whenever you all got a night off, content to drink with you rather than gamble with Drax. Once or twice he’d even offered to stay back with you when you were on Groot-duty rather than go out at all.

The bed they’d built for you was narrow but surprisingly comfortable, so once you’d put Groot back in his pot and climbed into bed in an old tee shirt, it hadn’t taken long for you to fall asleep. You’d stirred briefly when Rocket had come in shortly after, but you hadn’t bothered to try and wake up enough to make conversation. Rocket might like you well enough to share a room, but that didn’t mean he was completely comfortable having you there. There was rustling for a while as he changed, and you’d felt his weight on the edge of your mattress. He’d jumped from there to his hammock and settled down quickly. You’d fallen back to sleep quickly.

But now there was something pulling you from sleep, and you threw an arm over your eyes irritably. That was when you felt a vine snap over your forearm, hard enough to leave a mark. You jerked away from it, biting back a curse.

“Jesus Christ! Ow!” you grumbled, rubbing your arm. “Okay, okay, I’m up!”

You had a string of tiny lights along your wall – Groot slept better with a night light – and the dim orange glow lit up the tiny figure standing by your pillow. The little man had his hands tucked sheepishly behind his back, and he dropped the vine as if he hadn’t been holding it in the first place, feigning innocence. The clock glowing on the table told you it was just after three a.m. You reached over to pat his head gently, forcing your eyes to stay open.

“Groot, sweetie, it’s too early to get up. You need to go back to sleep, okay?”

“I am Groot!”

“Shhh… you gotta keep quiet.” You whispered, covering his mouth with your fingertip. “Rocket’s trying to sleep.”

He pushed your hand away and repeated himself louder than before. His hand patted your cheek insistently.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, sprout,” you yawned. You were slowly getting the hang of interpreting Groot-speak, but it was mostly contextual. And you had pretty much no context right now. “I’m sorry.”

“I. Am. Groot.” He enunciated, clearly frustrated.

“Would you two can it?” Rocket growled from above you, voice thick with sleep. “Some of us are tryin’ to get some shut eye here.”

“Yeah, you and me both,” you groaned pointedly. “It’s your boy here that won’t go to bed.”

“Groot!” Rocket barked in what you secretly thought of as his ‘dad voice’ – reprimanding, but with the unmistakable hint of affection he just couldn’t hide. You smirked, amused despite how tired you were; there was something so sweet about brash and aggressive Rocket being fatherly. He leaned over the side to glare down at your bed. “Get your ass back in that pot before I come down there and kick it for ya.”

The tiny Flora Colossus looked back up at him for a few moments before shaking his head and turning back to you. “I am Groot!”

“I know you want something, Groot,” you sighed, rubbing your eyes. “But I told you, I can’t understand you. Why don’t you go annoy Rocket?”

“I am Groot,” he huffed at you, kicking your pillow.

“Hey, woah. Chill with the attitude, okay, buddy?” you told him. “Rocket, get your ass down here.”

You heard the hammock squeak, and watched his weight shifting as he rolled onto his side, his back to you. “It’s you he wants.”

“I can’t even understand him,” you pointed out tiredly. “How am I supposed to help him?”

“He said he can’t sleep.” Rocket said. Groot tugged on your hair to regain your attention, climbing onto your chest and sitting down.

“I got that part,” you sighed, rolling your eyes. “I’ll go wake up Mantis. She can work her weird magic. She’s better than a lullaby.”

“The hell you will,” Rocket barked, surprising you. He glared at you over the edge of the hammock again. “You’re not lettin’ her mess around with his head.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“I am Groot.” The little guy had his arms folded over his chest petulantly, pouting. You poked him in the belly, and he laughed, swatting at your finger.

“He says he can’t sleep. He’s havin’ bad dreams.” Rocket translated. “He wants to share your bed.”

“Oh.”

Groot turned his gaze to the Guardian above the two of you. “I am Groot?”

“Forget it shorty,” Rocket replied, and you raised a brow. “I ain’t doin’ that.”

“Doing what?” you asked, propping yourself up on your elbows. “What does he want?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’m not doing it.”

“I am Groot!” Groot pleaded, and you could hear tears building in his throat. If he started crying you’d never get any sleep.

You groaned, annoyed, and threw one of your pillows at him. It hit the bottom of the hammock and he cursed. “Damn it, Rocket, just do what he wants! Because if I don’t get any sleep tonight I can promise you I will kick every square inch of your furry ass tomorrow!” When he didn’t respond, you sighed, softening your voice. “Please, Rocket?”

He growled, grumbling what you were pretty sure were insults under his breath. “Alright, but this is on you. Don’t complain about it.”

He jumped from the hammock to your mattress, pillow clutched in his paw. Your eyebrows raised as he settled himself at the foot of your bed, curling up by your calves. You could feel the warmth of him through the blanket, and he huffed a sigh as he found a comfortable position. “Uh…?”

“I said no complainin’.” Rocket said gruffly. “You got a problem, talk to Groot.”

“I am Groot!” the little guy looked pleased with himself, and he scurried down the bed to tug at the fur on Rocket’s shoulder. “I am Groot?”

“I’m down here, ain’t I?”

“I am Groot!”

“Ugh…”

You sighed, settling back against your pillow and pulling the blanket back up over your chest. “Just do it, Rocket.”

“Do what?” he said, almost suspiciously. “Thought you couldn’t understand him?”

“It’s context,” you said, closing your eyes. “Groot says he can’t sleep. He wants to sleep with us. But now I’m guessin’ he thinks you’re too far away, and he wants you up here where he can reach both of us.” Groot had been clingier than usual with the both of you over the last couple of days; sitting between you at dinner, insisting you read to him by Rocket’s work station, dragging him into the kitchen when you took dinner duty despite it being boring for the both of them. You hadn’t really put much thought behind it, but maybe the little plant had ulterior motives here.

Rocket was quiet for a long moment before he muttered, “Smart ass.”

“So just do it so we can sleep, alright?”

“…Fine.”

Rocket crawled up to your side and curled up again, tighter than necessary. He was almost quivering with tension; you could feel it through the blanket where his body was pressed against your ribs. Groot clambered back up the bed and over Rocket, settling in against your side, just above him. There was a pleased smile on his face as he closed his eyes, one hand curled in your shirt and the other buried in Rocket’s fur. You hesitated for a few minutes before whispering. “Rocket… chill.”

A low growl rumbled in his throat in response, but you still reached out and touched your fingertips to the back of his head. The growl built, but you stroked your fingers over his neck in a slow, repetitive motion until his breathing began to slow.

“Just relax, man. No one’s gonna hurt you.”

The growling stopped, but he didn’t speak until you were almost asleep again, your fingers heavy with sleep in his fur. When he did, it was barely a murmur. “I know.”

***

When you woke, there was a foreign weight on your stomach, and you opened your eyes to find Groot missing. But Rocket was still beside you, only now his chin rested on your belly, a faint, contented smile on his lips and his eyes closed. You scratched behind his ear, smiling when it twitched.

You glanced away for a moment to look at the clock – it was almost seven-thirty in the morning – and you noticed then that Groot was back in his pot, sound asleep. You shook your head and breathed a chuckle, closing your eyes again. “You cheeky little shit.”

 


End file.
